Journalists Could Face Felony Under New Legislation

Police block the entrance to Kirkwood High School during a lockdown on December 17, 2013.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) – Under legislation proposed by State Representative Stacy Newman, journalists could be charged with a felony for creating situations like the one that Kirkwood Junior Ewan Burns-Wilton went through.

“I was pretty terrified. I didn’t think I would die, I didn’t think I would get hurt because I feel we have good security at our school,” says Burns-Wilton.

Parents of Kirkwood students were extremely angry about the lockdown and the fear their children felt that day.

This legislation is in response to an incident where a reporter from KSDK walked into Kirkwood High School unchallenged, asked to use a restroom but headed another direction, then failed to answer when the front office called the cell number he’d left behind.

The station later apologized but stood by its investigation of school safety measures.